I, the Uxie
by Ivyvine
Summary: Tiger, Adrienne, and Maddie have been framed by the Inner Evils for a terrible crime they did not commit. With the help of legendary Heatran, they must enter Turnback Cave, find the Inners, and make them pay for their crimes. Part 3 of the Spirit Series
1. Origin Court

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the Ringworm?" I asked Maddie and her sister Adrienne for about the tenth time that minute. We were seated on the floor of their bedroom, working on yet another world geography paper as I complained endlessly about the Ringworm's unfairness.

Yeah, I was talking about my obnoxious geography teacher Mrs. Rengwald, not a fungal disease. At least, I'm pretty sure ringworm's caused by a fungus. How should I know? Adrienne's the go-to person about that stuff, not me. I can't even be bothered to use my powers as Uxie, the Being of Knowledge, to find out useless information like that. But that's a different story.

See, not too long ago, I had been arguing with my best friends Maddie and Adrienne over which of the three Spirit Pokémon—Uxie, Mesprit, or Azelf—had the best power. I stuck up for Uxie because, well, if you don't have knowledge, then what _do_ you have? Maddie argued in favor of Mesprit, the Being of Emotion, while Adrienne was all for Azelf, the Being of Willpower.

Of course, we found out pretty soon that these powers—knowledge, emotion, and willpower—were equally important. But that's only because we transformed into the three Spirit Pokémon and were later forced to face our own Inner Evils. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. And that wasn't the last time we would meet up with the Inners: In our second encounter with them, those three nutcases captured Adrienne and invaded her soul in order to steal her Azelf powers. The whole ordeal ended with Darkrai, the Lord of the New Moon, sacrificing his life to save us... although I think he mainly wanted to save Maddie. But again, that's a different story.

After a few minutes of working in sullen silence, I repeated, "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the Ringworm?"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Adrienne threw her hands in the air and gave me a mock glare. "If I hear another word out of you that doesn't relate to this paper, I'm going to rip out your tongue and make you eat it!"

"Hey, how am I supposed to eat without a tongue?" I protested, giggling like an idiot. I laugh at the stupidest things sometimes.

"You'll figure something out," Adrienne said. "Or have you already forgotten that you can turn into the Being of Knowledge?"

"Huh, it doesn't help that we haven't been back to the mind-world since our little trip to the core of your evil, evil soul to beat up our dear friends the Inners." Cresselia, the Pokémon who had helped us kick the Inners out of Adrienne's soul, had also given us the power to turn back into our Spirit Pokémon forms at will. Later, though, Cresselia had told us that there was a catch to this: we could only transform while in the mental world.

It just kind of felt like a total rip-off, you know?

"I hope we're called to fight the Inners again," Maddie said in a flat tone. "When I get my hands on those three, they'll be sorry they were ever dreamed up. I guarantee it."

An awkward pause stretched out into a grim silence. I found myself unable to look Maddie in the face, so I just quietly went back to work.

Ever since our last battle with the Inners, something in Maddie had changed. It was obvious that she wasn't about to forgive the Inners for killing Darkrai, and nobody blamed her for that. Still, it was almost scary, that look she got in her eyes whenever Adrienne or I mentioned the Inners. Almost... _inhuman_.

At last, Adrienne spoke up, not bothering to look up from her work. "You're not the only one here who has a bone to pick with the Inners. Remember that."

"I know," Maddie said, pausing briefly. "Do what you want with the others," she added darkly, "but Inner-Maddie is mine."

* * *

"Well, that about does it," said Adrienne about an hour later. "How does this sound?" She read her geography paper aloud. It wasn't a terribly exciting subject, something about deltas and rivers and the water cycle, but Adrienne managed to make it mildly interesting.

"That's pretty good. I kind of don't even know what I'm writing about," I said, holding up my pathetic paper with a sheepish grin.

Maddie craned her neck sideways to see the first couple of lines. " 'I think that the use of paper for homework assignments is a _deplorable_ waste of trees,' " she read aloud, actually cracking a smile for once.

Adrienne burst out laughing. (Somehow I figured she would.) "Tiger, I'm surprised you even know the word 'deplorable,' " she choked out between gasps of hilarity.

"Heeeey, not nice! For your information I know plenty of big words! Ah, uh, let's see, well, there's..."

_Abominable, abhorrent, vile, loathsome, detestable, contemptible, despicable!_

"Yes, thank you, I was just about to say those," I said. Then I froze. "Wait a minute—wh-who said that?" Adrienne and Maddie shrugged, eyes wide with bewilderment.

A second later, the shadows at the edges of the bedroom began to creep up the walls like a living oil spill. I recognized the phenomenon instantly.

"Looks like we're on a one-way trip to the mind-world," Adrienne warned us needlessly.

The shadows reached the ceiling quickly, enveloping the room in darkness for a few moments. Then it was like someone had switched on the mother of all floodlights, turning the world almost blindingly white. The mental world.

Only, this time was different. I said something real intelligent, like "Uuuhbubah," at the incredible sight. It was hard to take in the spectacle all at once.

It seemed almost every legendary Pokémon in existence had gathered in one place, though I couldn't pick out Cresselia or the real Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres all stood together, flaring their wings and clacking their beaks angrily at us, then turning to one another to mutter something. Next to them were Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, baring their fangs and growling menacingly. Hovering nearby were Lugia and Ho-Oh, glowering at the three of us, eyes burning with rage. Every other Legendary was glaring at us in the same way, though why, I couldn't begin to imagine. What could we have done that was so bad?

"Order! I demand order!" a voice boomed from somewhere in the throng of Legendaries. My teeth rattled from the force of the voice. Immediately the cacophony fell silent, and the crowd parted. A Pokémon stepped forward, and the blood froze in my veins as I immediately recognized it.

It was Arceus.

Absolute silence reigned; every eye, human and Legendary, was fixated on the Alpha Pokémon, the Original One who had created all Pokémon.

"Humans," it boomed, "you know why you are here."

"Um, no, actually, but it would be real nice of you to explain," I thought, but I didn't dare speak.

Dialga and Palkia, the Rulers of Time and Space, stepped into view, each heavy footfall making the invisible floor tremble. Palkia spoke. "You stand here accused of murder!"

Cries of rage swept the crowd once more. "Kill the murderers!" shouted Darkrai. My head snapped over to Maddie, who stared straight ahead with open-mouthed disbelief. This wasn't the same Darkrai who'd sacrificed his life to save her, but seeing a Darkrai now calling for her death must have been horrible. Despite my own growing sense of panic, I felt a twinge of pity.

Incredibly, Adrienne found the voice to speak up. "And who exactly are we supposed to have murdered?"

"Do not feign stupidity, human!" Dialga roared. "Giratina's death is a blow to both the living and spirit realms. Have you any idea what you may have set in motion?!"

"Giratina? _What?!_ We've never even met him, much less gotten the chance to attack him!" Adrienne yelled. "Listen, is there even any proof that we did something like this? I mean, come on!"

This gave the Legendaries pause. They spoke amongst themselves for a few minutes as the three of us stood and waited in anguished silence. Finally Regigigas spoke up. "Three humans matching your descriptions were seen by Heatran entering Turnback Cave. As no one was able to contact Giratina afterward, we assumed the worst."

"You assumed." Adrienne's eyes blazed with fury to match anything the Legendaries were feeling. I could tell she was about to freak out when Cresselia and the real Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf exploded onto the scene, shouting things like "What's going on here?" and "We were not consulted!"

"These humans stand trial for the murder of Giratina," said Arceus. "There was no doubt that you four would be biased in their favor, and therefore you were not consulted beforehand."

"Biased? _Biased?_ And you were going to have them killed?" hollered Cresselia.

"Honestly," sputtered Mesprit, "what has this Court come to? Of course these humans didn't kill Giratina!"

"It must have been their Inner Evils," said Uxie, folding its arms thoughtfully. "The Inners' plan to frame the three girls for a crime they did not commit was most masterful, I must admit."

"And they're not going to get away with it," said Azelf forcefully, golden eyes shining with anger, "because we're going after them!"

"Oh no, you're not." There were gasps and whispering among the Legendaries as Heatran stepped out. "Not without me, anyway. Giratina was my best friend. I will never forgive his murderers!" The Heatran's voice was higher-pitched than I would have expected, and I felt certain it was female.

"Not so fast," boomed Arceus. "To be cleared of all charges, the accused must prove their own innocence. They are to be the ones who seek the true murderers." Its glowing red eyes glanced from Adrienne to Maddie, finally resting on me.

"That is all well and good, Arceus," said Heatran gruffly, "but I must tell you that I am going whether the Court agrees to it or not. My friend must be avenged. On this point, I do not budge!" The Lava Dome Pokémon thumped her glowing iron paw on the invisible ground.

There was more hushed chatter between the Legendaries. Regigigas stomped over and murmured something to Arceus. The Original One considered this, then finally announced, "Very well. The accused and Heatran will attempt to find the true killers—if indeed said killers do not stand before us right now," he said. It was pretty obvious that the Pokémon still mistrusted us.

"And if they are unsuccessful?" asked Shaymin, setting off a fresh wave of discontented muttering through the horde of Legendaries.

"Unsuccessful?" I thought. Apparently these super-powerful Pokémon weren't exactly convinced that a trio of teenage humans could handle the job better than they could, even with Heatran helping us. Heck, I couldn't say I disagreed with them.

Arceus narrowed his eyes at the question. The crowd fell completely silent as he spoke his next words.

"That would be most... unfortunate for them."


	2. Turnback Cave

The entrance to Turnback Cave loomed ominously out of the distance as we made our way across the otherwise empty mental world. Adrienne, Maddie, and I had taken on our Spirit Pokémon forms, something Heatran didn't seem too thrilled about.

"Humans taking on the sacred forms of Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf! Huh!" she huffed, purposely talking loud enough for us to hear every word. Small licks of flame flared around her iron teeth as she grumbled something under her breath, then added, "Never thought I would see the day."

"Jerk!" I thought.

"Well, I never thought I'd be on trial for murder, but life's just full of surprises, isn't it?" growled Adrienne. She'd been fiercely irritable since learning from Regigigas that there was no real proof we'd killed Giratina, and yet we were being sent on this insane mission. Adrienne had always hated getting blamed for stuff she didn't do—something our trial at the Court of Origin had only taken to a whole new extreme.

I expected Heatran to make a snappish comeback. But after a brief pause, all she said was, "I suppose it is."

We traveled in silence for a few minutes, Heatran bounding along on four feet with surprising agility while the rest of us flew. The Lava Dome Pokémon had stopped muttering to herself, and she averted her gaze if any of us tried to make eye contact. (If you can call it that with a Uxie, anyway. But oddly enough, I could see even with my eyes shut all the time.)

Now, though, her silence seemed more awkward than hostile; maybe she was beginning to accept us as allies. Maybe I had judged her too quickly. After all, she'd just lost her best friend. Who wouldn't feel like being a jerk after something like that?

After a while Adrienne asked, "Do _you_ think we... uh... did that... to Giratina?"

"Oh, spit it out," Maddie snapped. "Heatran, do you think we murdered Giratina or not? I mean, come on, what could be more stupid?"

"Do I?" Heatran seemed surprised by the question. She thought about it for a few moments, then admitted, "No, I do not. Sometimes I think the Court may jump to conclusions far too quickly when there are lives on the line."

"_Thank _you!" Adrienne shouted, throwing up her tiny Azelf arms in exasperation.

"Well, it has always been this way, and it does not help that Dialga and Palkia are always sidling up to Arceus," said Heatran with a small chuckle that sounded like iron pipes clanking. "But there is more to it than that... it is hard to explain. ... When I saw those three who looked like you entering Turnback Cave, their malicious intent was clear, but somehow... I got a very bad feeling just being near them. There was something about them that made them very different from you three. Something that cannot be masked by smooth words or a pleasant expression." Heatran paused, her own expression darkening. "Something deadly."

An oppressive silence hung over our group for a while.

Deadly. That was the way a Legendary had described the Inners. They must have somehow become much more powerful since the last time we'd met them. Was it possible that they'd somehow harnessed the power they had stolen from Cresselia and managed to keep it alive? And worse, was that power growing?

"Wait!" someone behind us called out.

I snapped out of my dark thoughts and pivoted midair to see who had shouted. An orange blur hurtled toward Adrienne at bullet speed, then suddenly slowed to a stop, resolving itself into a familiar shape.

"Dragonite!" said Adrienne, looking pleasantly surprised. "It's been a while!"

"Who are you?" Heatran asked Dragonite crossly. "If you have come to engage in idle conversation, I would suggest you leave. We are on an important errand."

Dragonite let all of his words out in a breathless rush. "I know, I know! I heard all about it from Cresselia. Adrienne, I know you guys would never do something like this. They must be crazy! And I'm coming with you."

"Oh no, you are not," said Heatran. "This is not a mission for a non-Legendary. All you will do is slow us down." Her tone was so haughty and superior that I wanted to attack her. So much for having judged her too soon. Those Legendaries were all the same!

If Dragonite was annoyed by Heatran's attitude, he didn't show it. Instead he dipped his head in a reverent sort of way. "Forgive me, Legendary Heatran, but if you want me to stay behind, you'll have to knock me out first. I was unable to accompany Tiger and Maddie on their quest to the core of Adrienne's soul. I will never stay behind again, not if I can help it!"

Heatran gave a hiss of frustration; steam rose from her mouth as she said, "Very well, Dragonite. But get in my way once, just once, and you will find yourself left behind faster than an Extremespeed attack!"

"Of course, Legendary Heatran," Dragonite murmured, dipping his head even lower. It would have been almost funny if I hadn't been so angry. I had to speak up; I just couldn't let that conceited Heatran boss him around as if he were some useless deadweight.

"Hey, Heatran, why don't you just give it a rest?" I said. "Because believe it or not, you're _not_ the most powerful Pokémon in the world. We need any help we can get!"

Heatran fixed furious red eyes on me. "You obviously don't know what we're up against," she snapped. "I have never actually gone inside Turnback Cave before—I always met up with Giratina at the entrance. There is a good reason for that. I have heard tell of what lies inside, and it is not called Turnback Cave for nothing. If one enters unprepared, turning back is the wisest choice one can make."

She glanced sideways at Dragonite as she went on, "The best course of action is to take as few with us as possible. This not only makes our group members easier to keep track of, but also helps to keep us from attracting unwanted attention. If the Inner Evils lie in wait to ambush us at some point in the maze, it would work in our favor to be as quick and silent as possible."

"Quick?" said Dragonite, his nose twitching in amusement, but he kept his head bowed. "Haven't you heard, O Legendary Heatran? We Dragonites are able to circumnavigate the earth in sixteen hours. Our wings might not be as big as a Charizard's, but we can still maintain a respectable flying speed, if I do say so myself."

Heatran gave another steam-hiss, but this time she sounded resigned. "You Dragonites may be quick, but you certainly aren't silent. I suppose we will have to muzzle you if we are dragging you along."

"Muzzle me? _Muzzle_ me? The very idea!" the Dragon Pokémon harrumphed, apparently forgetting rank for a moment as he glared at the Legendary. "I'm perfectly capable of silence. Just you wait and see, Legendary Heatran, I can be quieter than a Cacturne who stalks people in the black of night!"

"Somehow I doubt that," muttered Heatran, but she sighed and signaled to us to keep moving.

* * *

The entrance to Turnback Cave looked like something out of Greek mythology.

Two huge pillars the color of rain clouds stood on either side of the huge opening. The stone of the cave was even darker gray, almost black. Just inside the entrance, twin rows of sconces held small flaming torches; the firelight didn't reach far enough to let us to see any deeper into the cave. Except for the dull roar of the flames, the whole place was eerily silent.

"Each of you must carry your own torch except for Dragonite, who can produce his own fire," said Heatran in a low voice. "If we are separated, there will be no other way for you to see in the dark. The Flash technique would be an acceptable alternative under different circumstances, but in here it is suicide to draw too much unwanted attention to oneself. Keep quiet, keep moving, and whatever you do, don't lose your fire."

Adrienne, Maddie and I nodded grimly. My stomach was knotted hard with anxiety, but I kept my mouth shut and followed my human friends to collect my torch.

"Now we go," said Heatran, leading the way.

"Let's show those Inners we mean business once and for all," Adrienne said in an undertone as we flew forward into the forbidding darkness.

"I second that," I muttered. "I'm just kind of sick of having to mess with those jerks all the time, you know?"

"Oh, I know," growled Maddie in agreement. "I know."

* * *

The creepy silence followed us into the cave, and I was reminded unpleasantly of the cave Maddie and I had had to navigate while we'd been in Adrienne's soul. It was like the silence itself was the predator, crouched and ready to attack at any moment. I held my torch away from my body and sort of brandished it as a warning to anything that might jump out at us from the darkness, as if to say, "I've got a shiny burning thing and I'm not afraid to use it."

As if any creature who posed a real threat would be afraid of a stupid little torch.

After a few minutes, we found something. I knew it was blocking our path because Heatran suddenly stopped and backed up several paces, hissing softly.

"Water," she whispered distastefully. Being a Fire- and Steel-type, she probably wasn't too crazy about the stuff. Then she stiffened. "There is a current, but why does it make no noise?"

I floated down to the water and held my torch against the surface. Heatran was right; it looked like part of a river, but the water made no sound as it flowed. Maybe it was like the Stream of Consciousness in Adrienne's soul, made of something other than water. A chill shot down my spine as I wondered, "But what?"

"_We are the voices of the dead..."_

I let out an involuntary shriek and jerked back. The voice had come from the water!

"Are you crazy?" hissed Heatran. "You will get us all killed! Then how are we supposed—" She cut herself off. "Look," she said dully.

Dark forms were rising from the river. At first I thought they were weird reflections made by the water, but then dozens of pairs of eyes started glinting in the dark. When I squinted and held out my torch, I could just make them out. As more and more of them rose, the water level dropped.

Ghost Pokémon. The river was made of Ghost Pokémon!

"Prepare to defend yourselves!" shouted Heatran to the rest of us—or maybe she was warning the ghosts not to underestimate us.

Baring their teeth in wicked grins and cackling, the ghosts ignored Heatran and flew forward to attack.


	3. Ghostly Encounter

Almost immediately I found myself head-to-head with three evil-looking Banettes and one heck of a butt-ugly Dusclops whose single eye shone threateningly. The four Ghost Pokémon were headed straight for me!

Without even really thinking, I used Uxie's psychic power on my torch. A fiery barrier flared up around me, the sudden light sending twin needles of pain stabbing through my eyes. Screeches of surprise and agony from the other side of the barrier told me that it was working. I narrowed my field of mental vision and found that I could see what was happening on the other side of the flames, but anything I tried to yell to my friends was drowned out by the roar of the fire and the cacophony of cackling that rose from the ghosts.

"Genius, Tiger! Look what she's doing, guys!" said Dragonite in between spouts of flame at his aggressors, a mob of grinning Gengars and Gastlies. Maddie and Adrienne hurriedly followed my lead, using their powers to create flame barriers between themselves and the attacking ghosts.

A motley group of Haunters, Duskulls, and Shuppets was attacking Heatran without much success. What did they expect to accomplish fighting against a Legendary anyhow?

Actually, maybe the ghosts were aware of their miserable chances, since they didn't seem interested in hurting her so much as annoying the heck out of her. The Duskulls would dart in and pluck at her tail, while the Haunters would fly over her head to bat it with their paws, and the Shuppets were all trying to cover her face with their cloth-like tails.

Yeah. Bad idea.

"I have had ENOUGH!" Heatran roared. Her attackers gave squeals of alarm as she started to glow bright red. "Humans, keep those fire shields up! Dragonite, help me with this attack!"

"Th-_that_ one?" Dragonite gasped. He obviously recognized the attack, and whatever it was, it wasn't one you used just for the heck of it. "But—"

"_Now!"_ Heatran barked, glowing brighter than ever as the ghosts crashed into one another trying to back away.

Dragonite began to glow red, then flew over to Heatran just as she leaped into the air. He jumped up to meet her and grasped her front paws with his own, then quickly pressed his feet against her back paws. It would have been comical-looking in any other situation, but I had a feeling that whatever they were about to do might save all our lives.

The two Pokémon started spinning in midair like a floating wheel. They were now glowing so bright red they looked almost white. A general screech of horror rose from the ghosts as Dragonite and Heatran _caught on fire_ and rammed right into a mob of them.

"It's a Flame Wheel attack!" shouted Adrienne. She sounded more excited than freaked out like I was.

"No duh, Sherlock," Maddie yelled back. "What was your first clue—the flame or the wheel?!"

Maddie was right; the attack was pretty much unmistakably a Flame Wheel, though much more powerful than anything I'd ever seen in the Pokémon video games. Dragonite and Heatran had turned into a couple of inferno-berserkers on those stupid ghosts, who were scattering like leaves in a whirlwind under the assault.

It wasn't long before every ghost had been knocked out. Finally I felt safe enough to put out my fire shield, the flames fizzling out with a sharp _sssssss_. I saw Adrienne and Maddie do the same with their shields.

Heatran and Dragonite separated midair, extinguishing the flames at the same moment. They landed awkwardly and lay on the ground, breathing shallowly.

"Wow," gasped Dragonite. "That was some insane—"

Heatran lifted a paw, silencing him for the second time in as many minutes. She nodded toward the dry riverbed; our gazes followed. And my breath caught in my throat.

Something in there was glowing.

"Bzzzzrrrrrrd! Zzzzwhaz 'ave you done-a my ghozzzdezz?"

Sparking furiously, a Rotom rose from the empty riverbed. The Plasma Pokémon pointed at Heatran accusingly with its lightning bolt-shaped arms. "Zzzzzey, I amemberzz youzzze! Zzzzyouze waz ad da Courd meeding, weren'chazzzz?" Heatran narrowed her eyes and nodded. The Rotom smiled impudently and asked, "Zzzzzo whaz bringz youze in 'erezz, 'Eadranzzzz?"

I actually had to use Uxie's power to translate this gibberish into coherent English—it was that bad. Basically, Rotom had demanded to know what we had done to the ghosts, told Heatran it recognized her, and asked her why we were here—as if it didn't already know, the jerk! I was getting the distinct impression that Heatran and Rotom weren't exactly buddy-buddy.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who'd been confused by Rotom's speech. "What is that thing babbling about?" I heard Adrienne ask Dragonite as the Rotom droned on.

"Rotom has a very strange manner of speech," Dragonite managed to wheeze. "It doesn't bother trying to pronounce the letters _T_ or _H_, it has dreadful grammar, and it begins and ends every sentence with 'zzzzz'." In spite of his weariness, he sniffed primly. "Very poor form, if you ask me."

Heatran, however, sounded unfazed by Rotom's 'poor form' as she replied, "You know about Giratina as well as I do. I intend to find his killers and destroy them, and I am not moving so much as a paw outside Turnback Cave until I do."

"Bzzzzzrd! ZzzzzI am awarezzz of zhizzz! Zzzzwhaz you think, I'm zzzdupid or zomezhingzzz?" Indignantly Rotom threw off showers of sparks, his body flashing bright yellow.

"No, I do not think you are stupid, Rotom. But if you and your ghosts do not get out of my way very quickly, chances are my opinion will change, and I've never been one to suffer fools lightly," Heatran said. Dark plumes of smoke drifted up around her steel teeth as she fixed such a fierce glare on Rotom that I probably would've wet myself if she looked my way. Luckily, she didn't.

"Zzzzzerrrrzzz..." Rotom drew back nervously. It looked away and said, "Zzzzwell, if you muzd go, then I zuppoze you muzd go, 'Eadranzzzz. Zzzzzbud I'd bedder warnz ya..." It glanced around the darkness of the cave and continued in a barely perceptible whisper. "Zzzzzzbeware... beware the 'eart, if youze value your livezzzzz!" And with that, it called to the other ghosts. They swiftly poured back into the riverbed, leaving no sign that they'd ever left it.

"Well, that was a waste of valuable time," Heatran said as she skillfully leaped across the river. "Someone remind me to punch Rotom after all this is over with."

"No problem," Maddie muttered as the rest of us floated over the river and moved on.

For a time, we traversed the dark, musty tunnels without incident. Might've been minutes, might've been hours, but thankfully, no more ghosts popped out to hamper our progress.

"Beware the art?" I grumbled, half to myself, as we followed yet another bend in the tunnel. "What kind of warning is that? I've seen some creepy paintings in my day, but as far as I can remember none of them ever made an attempt on my life."

"Don't be stupid," Maddie hissed. "Didn't you hear what Dragonite said about Rotom's speech patterns? It doesn't pronounce the letter _H_, just skips over it, basically. Kind of like British Cockney or whatever it's called."

" 'Eyllo, guv-na!" Adrienne put in brightly. Maddie shot a poisonous look at her, and she grunted, fixing her gaze on her torch. "Geez, just trying to lighten the mood here. Don't have to go all psycho-stare on me."

"So, if Rotom wasn't saying 'art,' " Dragonite spoke up beside Adrienne, "what _was_ it saying?"

"Well, since Rotom obviously wasn't warning us about fine sculptures, there is only one other possibility," Heatran replied evenly. "It must have been saying 'heart.' I suppose it wanted to frighten us away from our task of finding the heart of the cave, where the Inners must be waiting." She snorted puffs of smoke, pale in the light of the torches. "Idiot."

_lubb-dupp_

I gave a little start at the noise. It sounded strangely muffled, as if it had emanated from deep within the tunnel walls. It was also weirdly familiar. Had the others heard? If they had, they weren't giving any indication of it. I listened carefully, but the sound didn't come again.

Nerves, that's all. My tattered nerves were playing tricks on my brain. "I must be going crazy," I muttered to myself.

_lubb-dupp_

Or maybe not.

"What was that?" Heatran snapped. We all looked around anxiously for the source of the sound, but the light from our fires revealed nothing against the dark walls. Heatran was forced to accept that nothing was there, and we trudged on.

_lubb-dupp_

"There it is again," said Maddie. "Sounds closer this time."

"Don't be ridiculous," grunted Heatran. But her eyes flickered from left to right, left to right, over and over.

_lubb-dupp_

_lubb-DUPP_

Abruptly, the tunnel opened onto a huge cave. As we entered, a faint hissing came from behind us. We all spun around in time to see strange, red, vine-like objects sliding into place, blocking off the tunnel we'd just come from.

_lubb-DUPP lubb-DUPP lubb-DUPP lubb-DUPP_

And there, in the cave, was the source of the sound. A huge, dark red, muscular thing, shiny with slime.

It was a giant heart, swelling and contracting with its own beat. Branching veins and arteries, thick as elephant trunks, sprouted from the thing's sides and top, snaking down to form a kind of root-like foot. For a crazy second I thought of Bellsprout, a Pokémon that also used its roots as feet.

An unearthly roar pulsed from the hideous creature, turning my spine to ice and my limbs to wobbling Jell-O.

"Adrienne," said Maddie in a parched whisper. "You know a lot about hearts, right?"

"Kind of," she whispered back. "But not enough..."

"We must fight anyway!" Heatran bellowed. Dragonite gaped at her like she might be insane, but she ignored him.

And charged the monster head-on.


	4. The Heart

The heart's tentacles whipped forward and struck Heatran away as easily as if she weighed nothing, but at least she distracted it long enough for the rest of us to fly out of the creatures' reach.

"Adrienne! You're going to be a freaking cardiologist when you grow up! Start talking!" Maddie screamed over the heart's incessant _lubb-DUPP lubb-DUPP_.

"Um... okay... okay," said Adrienne, starting to panic now that everyone was looking to her for answers. She stared down at the heart as it lashed out at Heatran with terrifying speed. Heatran was just barely able to dodge the attacking blood vessels, but she obviously wasn't going to be able to get close enough to make an attack of her own.

"Okay, this sounds like it could work," Adrienne began finally. "We have to pierce the... uh... the sinoatrial node. It's the pacemaker of the heart—without it, the heart has no electrical pulse to keep it beating. It should be in the right atrium."

"Meaning?!" Maddie asked, drawing the word out so it sounded like "Mean-iiiiiiiing?!"

"The top right chamber! If we stab it in just the right place, maybe it'll kill the heart!"

_Maybe_ it would kill the heart. Great. We were all going to risk our lives on a big fat "maybe". "I just hope you know what you're talking about," Maddie snapped to Adrienne, echoing my doubt aloud.

_FWOOOOOM!_ The heart's tentacles stretched farther and faster than I would have ever thought possible. They all seemed to be targeting Heatran when four of them suddenly whipped almost straight upward—and plucked Adrienne from the air.

"Oh, for _crying out loud_!" she shouted as she dropped her torch, writhing uselessly as the tentacle dragged her downward. "Guys, you'll have to—" The tip of the tentacle slapped over her mouth with a wet _shlop_, muffling the rest of whatever she'd been about to say.

At the moment, Dragonite, Maddie and I were too busy dodging the remaining three tentacles to try to rescue Adrienne. "But we need her!" I thought in panic. "How else are we supposed to find the sinoatrial node? Adrienne's the only one who knows..."

Oh. Of course. Knowledge, supposedly Uxie's specialty. Knowledge, which always seemed to desert me at the most crucial moments.

"Come on," I pleaded with the Uxie part of my brain. "Please tell me you know something—_anything_—on this particular subject!"

I concentrated as hard as I could on the giant heart while still paying enough attention to my surroundings to be able to escape its lashing tentacle. And slowly, before my eyes, a glowing spot appeared on the throbbing creature. The spot was definitely on the top right part of the heart.

If I looked harder still, I could even make out the bursts of electricity that spread from the node and throughout the rest of the heart with each beat. This had to be it—the sinoatrial node!

Without another thought, I darted toward that glowing point like a living missile.

"YAAAAAAHHH!" I shouted in total exhilaration. (Sometimes I just couldn't help it.)

The world blurred around me, my vision contracting to the single point of light that marked the heart's weakness. With Uxie's psychic power, I formed a mental spike, sharpening it to a deadly point.

The point of the mental spike quickly found its mark, piercing it with perfect accuracy. Less than two seconds had passed since I'd plunged from the sky, and quick as it was, the heart hadn't had time to defend itself. The heart gave an otherworldly roar of what could only have been pain, throbbed louder and faster than ever—_LUBB-DUPP-LUBB-DUPP-LUBB-DUPP_—and collapsed.

With surprising gentleness, the veins and arteries fell lifeless to the cave floor. Heatran and Adrienne popped out of them, gasping for breath. We all stared solemnly at one another, grateful just to be alive.

"That was WICKED," said Adrienne. I cracked up laughing, effectively ruining the moment, and Maddie and Heatran both gave me the Evil Eye. Adrienne and Dragonite were smiling, though. I grinned back.

"Look," Heatran hissed abruptly.

A strange, softly glowing blue mist was rising from the dead heart. Immediately the five of us were on the defensive, but the mist didn't seem to be giving off any bad vibes.

The mist slowly congealed into a shape. A very familiar shape...

"It's a _Pokémon_!" Adrienne exclaimed.

A Luvdisc, to be exact. The heart-shaped ghost stared at us with its small, bright eyes.

"_I cannot thank you enough for breaking the curse that bound me to this place,"_ it said in a thin, feminine voice. _"I am deeply sorry for my actions, but rest assured that I am a good being. Foolish, perhaps, but good. But there is something I do not understand. Why is it that I remain here, rather than moving on to the next life?"_

"This much I know," replied Heatran, the only one of us who wasn't stupefied with shock. "Giratina, the one who guides spirits on their journey to the next life, was murdered by a dark entity. We are on our way to find that entity and destroy it. After that, and Arceus willing, we will find a new connection between the living world and the spirit world." She frowned. "How came you to be trapped in Turnback Cave, Luvdisc? And what is this curse you speak of?"

The ghostly Luvdisc closed its eyes. _"I have said before that I am a foolish creature. Long ago, and against the warnings of my friends and family, I ventured into this cave. I thought myself a fearless explorer. I was quite young then, and danger was just another face of adventure to me."_

Luvdisc shook its head, which was really the entire front part of its thin body. _"I quickly became lost, and the idea of adventuring farther into the cave no longer held any appeal. For a time I thought for sure I was headed toward the cave entrance, but the tunnels only kept twisting into more complicated patterns, and I became more lost than ever. I died here, without food or water or even the warmth of the sun to comfort me. I was relieved, for I thought that with my death would finally come peace. But even death was not the end of my suffering._

_As I took my final breaths, a terrifying voice spoke directly into my head. 'Fool,' it said, 'do you truly believe that death will free you from the consequences of your idiocy? Be cursed.' And so I was. I became a monstrous heart that sensed all the suffering in the living world, both physical and emotional. Needless to say, it was torture."_ Luvdisc shuddered violently with the memory, then frowned. _"Although I must say, the pain was far worse recently than it had ever been. There must be a creature suffering very near here, and a very powerful one at that."_

"GIRATINA!" everyone except Luvdisc shouted at once. The ghost stared at us in bewilderment.

"Is it really possible?" Heatran murmured, half to herself. "If this Luvdisc can only sense the pain of living creatures..."

"_Oh, yes, living creatures only. I'm quite certain of that. There is an electric ghost who passes through this cave sometimes, and he always has other ghosts with him at whom he seems to enjoy shouting abuse. The pain is always clear on their faces, but I cannot feel the suffering in their still hearts."_

"Rotom," Heatran grunted. "Why am I not surprised? Luvdisc, is there any part of this cave where you felt the most pain from that powerful creature?"

"_Yes,"_ said the ghost, _"as a matter of fact there is."_ Luvdisc nodded toward the darkest part of the cave. Now that I looked carefully at that part of the cave, I could see a very faint glow emanating from it. The weird part was that it was a _dark_ glow. I didn't know how it was possible for darkness to glow, but it was.

Heatran's mouth fell open. "That... that's—" It wasn't like Heatran to be at a loss for words. That couldn't be good.

"That," she said in a shaky voice, "can only be one thing. An entrance to the Torn World!"

For a moment it was so quiet, you could've heard a pin drop. At the cave entrance.

"The Torn World?" I asked. "The one that was supposed to be introduced in Pokémon Platinum?"

"The one where Giratina reverts to his Origin Forme?" added Adrienne in a smaller voice.

"The one where we're probably all gonna die if we go there?" Maddie said sullenly, not sounding as if she particularly cared at this point. Gee, Maddie, thanks for your moral support.

"Yes, that one," growled Heatran. "And if the Inners are planning to do what I fear they are, then we are all in deep trouble. It is usually against my better judgment to dash into a situation without taking ample time to prepare, but we must depart for the Torn World immediately. There is no time to waste!"

"_I will go with you," _said Luvdisc. _"It is the least I can do for having attacked you earlier."_

"If you must," said Heatran, already headed for the dark glow. "Follow me, all of you."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Dragonite said under his breath.

"Don't we all?" Adrienne replied.

"You'll be feeling worse things if you don't shut your mouths and hurry," Heatran snapped over her shoulder. "Like my foot on your behinds!"

Despite the gravity of our situation, I found myself trying not to giggle.

I always seem to laugh at the most horribly inappropriate moments.


	5. Torn

The moment we all entered the dark glow, we were there. The Torn World.

And even stoic Heatran was stunned into silence by the sight.

"I refuse," Adrienne said, being the first of us to regain the ability to think coherently. "I refuse" was her catch-phrase for anything she desperately didn't want to do. Can't say I blamed her, you know?

The sight was enough to stupefy anyone. A huge, dark void filled with impossible things stretched before us, a physicist's worst nightmare—it might have been impossible, but it existed all the same. Then again, most of the stuff that happened to us these days was supposedly impossible.

The first thing you noticed about the Torn World was the stream. At first glance, other than the fact that it was flowing through nothing, it just looked like an ordinary river. And then you saw where the stream met some invisible wall. Don't ask me how, but the water was flowing _up the wall_, just like that. And the weirdness didn't stop there. Where the nonexistent wall met the nonexistent ceiling, the stream simply changed direction again and flowed across the ceiling. Apparently no one had ever introduced this place to the concept of gravity. Or maybe gravity changed here depending on where you stood. It made my head hurt just thinking about it. Clearly, this place was _not natural_.

Just beyond the stream was a stretch of scattered ruins that went on and on until the farthest ones disappeared into the void. I shuddered at the thought that someone might have actually lived here once. In keeping with the Torn World's weird gravity, ruins also protruded from the invisible walls or were suspended upside-down in midair.

"They should turn this place into one of those year-round haunted houses," I mused aloud.

"Genius, Tiger," said Dragonite. I had a feeling he was being sarcastic this time.

"Haunted houses are as tame as a child's bedroom compared to where we're going," said Heatran.

"Anyone who calls kids' bedrooms tame has obviously never seen my cousin Caitlyn's," Adrienne said. "Going in there is like hacking through a jungle of unwashed laundry." I had to cover my mouth with my free hand to keep from laughing like crazy. Heatran noticed and rolled her eyes.

"Back on topic," she snapped. "This stream is just a bit too broad for me to jump across, and seeing as I weigh nearly a thousand pounds, I doubt anyone, even Dragonite, will be able to carry me across. Suggestions?"

"_It should not be a problem for you to cross with my help, Heatran,"_ said Luvdisc. _"I may not have a physical body, but I believe I still retain some small power over water."_

Heatran nodded briefly. "See what you can do. Quickly, now, we haven't much time."

The ghost floated over the river and examined it carefully. _"The current may pose a slight problem," _she said, sounding troubled. _"I will freeze the water to make a bridge, but with a current this strong I doubt it will last more than a few seconds. Heatran, is it possible for you to lower your body temperature?" _

The Lava Dome Pokémon nodded again. "I can temporarily pull the heat from my paws into the upper portion of my body. You are sure this bridge will support a creature of my weight?"

"_Not for very long, no. But long enough."_

I felt a weird, almost sinister pulse in the back of my mind. I shook my head to clear it; the creepy atmosphere of the Torn World must've been doing things to my brain.

Luvdisc hovered over the river and, from her mouth, shot down a stream of frost: an Ice Beam. The current crackled with the cold and almost immediately ground to a halt. _"Cross quickly,"_ Luvdisc urged Heatran.

Maddie, Adrienne, Dragonite, Luvdisc and I flew to the other side of the river as Heatran followed on the ice bridge.

"This was an excellent idea," said Heatran, sounding genuinely pleased, as she lightly padded across the thick-looking layer of ice. "You lack confidence in your abilities, Luvdisc. I feel this bridge would have lasted several hours were it not for my stomping on it."

"_It is nothing,"_ Luvdisc replied shyly. _"I was taught to manipulate ice by my grandmother. She was much better at it than I am."_

"Don't be silly," Heatran grunted. "Without you I would not have been able to go on. I—AAAAAACK!"

Without warning, a crazy spiderweb of cracks spread out from the ice under Heatran's paws, as if she were the epicenter of some Antarctic earthquake. Before anyone had time to react, she plunged down through the ice into the river, sending up a huge splash and a torrent of steam caused by the fiery heat of her body.

Another sinister pulse flared in my mind, and this time a nasty, all-too-familiar voice came with it: _That was just too easy._

"INNER-TIGER!" I yelled. At the same time Maddie shouted "INNER-MADDIE!" and Adrienne hollered "INNER-"—well, you know the rest.

The dark presence faded from my mind, and I could only watch with dull horror as Heatran disappeared into the water. The only evidence she had ever been there was the huge, hissing plume of steam.

* * *

After a few seconds that felt more like an eternity, Dragonite plunged in after her. Another eternal moment passed, and he reappeared with Heatran in tow. In a feat of impossible strength, he dragged her onto the shore where the rest of us waited.

It was frightening to look at her in her condition, but I found myself unable to pull my eyes away. Instead of her normal oranges and reds, Heatran was a dull, sickly shade of gray, and her fiery glow had faded to the slightest shimmer. "Like lava cooling to stone," I realized silently.

Dragonite gently set her down in a comfortable position, his face twisted with terrible concern. "Legendary Heatran," he said quietly.

Slowly her eyes opened; they too had turned gray.

With a collective burst of hope, the rest of our group tried to crowd around her, but Dragonite shooed us away. "Give her some air! Wait... Maddie and Tiger, use your torches and try to warm her up!"

Adrienne looked ashamed at being unable to help; she'd lost her torch in the fight against the cursed Luvdisc.

Heatran sighed happily at the warmth from our torches, and Dragonite pitched in with a small Ember. Her color didn't improve, but at least she seemed more comfortable.

"Dragonite," she said in the merest whisper. "I... I was wrong. Wrong... about you. All of you. And I... I thank you for..." She wheezed, and the sound was even more frightening than her appearance.

"Don't push yourself, Legendary Heatran," Dragonite said gently.

"...for trying," she finished. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes for the last time.

* * *

Oddly, I felt no grief. It was like a huge hollow had opened inside my chest, swelling until it blotted out all feeling, all emotion. And in that moment I realized Heatran was dead because of _us_—because of me and Maddie and Adrienne. If the Inners had never existed, none of this would have happened.

I was aware of Luvdisc and Dragonite berating themselves. "Don't bother," I thought vaguely. "We're the ones who ruined everything." We didn't deserve to live.

"It's all my fault. If I had pulled her out faster, she would still be alive. It's all my fault!" Dragonite was sobbing uncontrollably. "And now Arceus is going to do something awful to the girls, because we have no one to guide us through the Torn World to find the Inners!"

"_Do not blame yourself, Dragonite. Oh, this is so terrible and it's all because of my foolishness. If only I had made the bridge just a few inches thicker, this would never have—wait a moment, look at this!"_

A blue mist was rising from Heatran's still form. It came together into a familiar shape. The shape's eyes glanced around slowly, taking in our sorrowful faces, and finally coming to rest on the body beneath it.

"_So it has happened,"_ said the ghost of Heatran. _"I am truly dead."_ She didn't sound scared or angry; just terribly, terribly sad.

Everyone started shouting at once. "Heatran! It's you! You're still here!"

"_So it would seem,"_ she replied, a hint of her old humor returning. _"I may be dead, but I'm not gone yet. Not until the Inners are ousted from the Torn World and Giratina is freed! Remember, no one can move on to the next life until they are led there by Giratina. That goes for me as well. I'm lucky I even made it this far before..."_ She trailed off.

Luvdisc went up to her. _"Do not be sad,"_ the older ghost said with forced cheerfulness. _"There are many worse things than death, believe me. You will soon grow used to it."_

Maddie snorted. "Oh yeah, there are _waaay_ worse things out there than death. Like what I'm going to do to Inner-Maddie once I get my mitts on her pathetic butt!"

"Really? And what exactly would that be?!" Raucous laughter exploded behind us.

The three Inners had materialized along with Giratina in his Origin Forme, huge spike-tipped wings billowing. Heatran tried to call out to him, but he just glared straight ahead as if he hadn't heard.

Inner-Tiger smiled a twisted version of my own smile. "Like I said before, this was just too easy. Very convenient that we left a makeshift entrance to the Torn World in a place like this, isn't it? Especially knowing that oh-so-noble types like you wouldn't have been able to resist freeing Luvdisc from that curse, therefore making her feel in your debt, and ultimately leading up to Heatran's demise... It's amazing how far a little foresight can go!"

So we'd fallen right into their trap. They'd known all along that we would use Luvdisc to make an ice bridge across the water. They'd waited invisibly and shattered it themselves when the time was right. Otherwise Heatran would've easily made it to the other side!

"Giratina, prepare yourself," said Inner-Adrienne. Heatran gasped.

"_No! You can't go through with this. You have no idea what you're doing!" _she screeched.

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing," Inner-Adrienne replied coldly. "By removing Giratina from this ruined world while still in his Origin Forme, I'm creating a creature more powerful than Arceus itself—one that will be completely under my control!" She began to laugh maniacally. "I hope you're all prepared to go the same way as Heatran! AHAHAHAHA!!"


	6. Two Sides

Maddie snapped to her senses and rushed toward Inner-Maddie, screaming like a crazy Amazon warrior and cussing so much it would've made a sailor blush. "YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO DARKRAI!" she screamed as she launched herself at the Inner.

Inner-Maddie just gave a scornful laugh and swatted her away like a troublesome fly. "Relax," she said, sneering. "We're going on a one-way trip to the real world!"

"Well, what are you staring into space for?" Inner-Adrienne snapped to Giratina. "Let's get out of this dump!"

Giratina's wings spread wide, the clawed tips shining gold. They lifted to form a sharp V-shape and gave a mighty downstroke, pulsing out silver waves of energy. And again—upstroke, downstroke, waves; upstroke, downstroke, waves. Giratina flapped faster and faster, sending the silver energy in every direction.

"_Giratina,"_ moaned Heatran. The sheer pain in her voice made my heart ache.

It was like a movie fade. Each time the waves washed over the Torn World, it changed a bit more from empty void and ruins to something... different, yet all-too-familiar.

Suddenly this different world started to pull at all of us with cyclone force, and it was as if the Torn World was collapsing in on itself. I felt myself being sucked through nothing, but I couldn't see, couldn't hear anything but the chaos of my own frantic thoughts.

"Okay. This is not cool. Okay. How are we going to get out of _this_?" I demanded of the Uxie side of my brain.

Its reply was infuriatingly cryptic. "Only by truly being yourselves can you hope to stop Giratina."

"Gee, thanks a ton. Remind me never to ask you anything again." I jumped back to reality...

...and found myself sitting on the grass in front of my school, Frank J. Eibod. In human form.

"WHAT?! Oh, NO—THEY—DID—NOT!" I heard Maddie holler. I looked over; she was sitting a few feet away, waving her arms and kicking up grass as if indignant about being flung back into normal shape without her permission. Nearby, Adrienne just kind of stared at her hands, uncomprehending. Dragonite, Luvdisc, and Heatran's ghost appeared just moments behind us.

Judging by the fact that a bunch of kids were sitting around on the bleachers with food, it must have been lunch period. Everyone forgot about eating pretty quickly, though, when the Inners and Giratina made their appearance. A shaft of golden light arced down from the sky and, with a brilliant burst of silver starlight, exploded into Giratina's huge form right in the middle of a group of cheerleaders; the Inners jumped off his back. The cheerleaders' horrified screams would have been pretty hilarious in a less dire situation, but at this point not even I was in the mood to laugh. Kids scattered every which way, screaming like the world was ending. Which could have been true, for all I knew.

About three seconds later, a bunch of teachers and counselors burst dramatically from the double doors of Eibod's main entrance, only to take one look at Giratina and head for the hills. The sophomore counselor, a big, burly guy who used to coach varsity football, was shrieking like a little girl as he fled, pushing past kids and even knocking a few of the smaller ones down.

Okay, _that_ I was able to snicker at—if only for a split second.

My amusement died in an instant when the three Inners floated upward, higher and higher, until they were well above the roofline of the school.

And transformed.

"Knowledge!" I heard Inner-Tiger shout above the chaotic noise of the crowd. In a flash of yellow light, she shrank into a Uxie.

"Emotion!" Inner-Maddie yelled; a flash of pink, and she was Mesprit.

"Willpower!" roared Inner-Adrienne. A blue flash signaled her Azelf transformation.

In those few seconds, the tables were suddenly and unexpectedly turned. We were stuck as feeble, impotent humans; they were now the most powerful life forms in the universe. It was probably going to be pretty hard to beat them now, you know?

Yeah... we were so dead.

"This is bad," Adrienne said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Maddie grumbled.

"_I knew they were going to do something like this,"_ said Heatran with surprising calm. _"Only Giratina in his Origin Forme would be able to create a rip between the Torn World and this world; once inside the rip, he is capable of almost anything but resurrecting the dead."_

"That's right, Melt-brain," Inner-Maddie sneered.

"Exactly right," said Inner-Tiger. "It was a breeze sneaking into Turnback Cave while Giratina performed the last funeral rites for the old Darkrai. All we had to do was make sure we were seen by this extinct volcano here—" she nodded at Heatran "—and we knew the girls would be framed. That gave us plenty of time to work our reserve of Cresselia powers toward controlling Giratina's tiny little dinosaurian brain."

Heatran fumed—literally. Ribbons of ghostly blue-gray smoke curled from her mouth as she spat at the Inners, _"You won't get away with this. The atrocity of this crime—it is unprecedented. It goes against the way of things more than anything that you have attempted before. You must stop before—"_

"Before we win?" Inner-Adrienne cut in, an insane grin plastered across her Azelf face. "Not likely. We've come too far to stop now, as I'm sure you'll understand." Her head turned to the other Inners. "Let's get on with it. These idiots are just wasting our time."

"First things first," Inner-Maddie crowed. She shouted down to Giratina, "Well, what're you waiting for? Kill them!"

For the first time since he'd beamed down from the sky, Giratina moved.

And the world started to shake itself apart.

* * *

Never, ever will I forget the horror of those next few seconds. The images are burned into my mind, and when I sleep, they haunt my dreams. I doubt they will ever stop.

No more than a hundred feet from where we sat, a huge fissure crackled across the ground, shot under the school's foundation, and exploded out the other side. That was the last anyone saw of Frank J. Eibod before it collapsed in on itself, crashing down, down, down through nothingness... bringing who knew how many hundreds of kids and teachers with it.

I stared numbly at the empty crack in the ground, unable to think. Unable to wrap my mind around what had just happened. My friends; had they been inside? The scene played itself over and over in my head; the school crumbling apart, falling, its sudden, total destruction not unlike that of the World Trade Center when the hijacked airplanes smashed into its Twin Towers.

I knew no one could have possibly survived.

And I gave myself over to utter despair. I curled up in fetal position and waited to die. We were going to lose; we had failed all the billions of people who lived on this planet, and the untold multitude of good creatures in the mental world too.

* * *

That wasn't the worst part, though.

The worst part was that they were _laughing_, just carrying on like one of them had just cracked the best joke in the history of the universe. At any other time this would have filled me with a sense of outrage, but now it just made the hollowness in my chest spread upward into my skull.

The Inners knew they had won. They knew no one could stop them now. So why _shouldn't_ they laugh?

Our group stared blankly at the Inners and Giratina as they hovered above the now-empty fissure.

"Well, hasn't this been fun?" said Inner-Maddie, still guffawing.

"Oh yes, it's been the most fun I've ever had," Inner-Tiger agreed. "What a shame that it all has to end."

"Yes, what a shame," said Inner-Adrienne, still smiling her ghastly smile, "but, sadly, an unavoidable one. Giratina, finish them. Now."

Giratina's wings had already begun to shimmer between red and black. Heatran gasped when he glared in our direction, but instead of attacking us, he shot upward and crashed into the Inners, sending them flying in different directions.

"Whoa! What was that?" Dragonite said as we watched the scene, all of us shouting with alarm. My head cleared, and hope flooded my veins once more. Would Giratina resist the Inners after all?

"Hey, what gives?" Inner-Maddie yelled as she hovered a good distance from the unruly Giratina.

"Giratina, I gave you an order!" Inner-Adrienne screeched, as if she couldn't believe she'd been disobeyed.

"No one gives me orders anymore," thundered Giratina. His voice was deep, like the roar of ocean waves, and unmistakably furious.

"_Giratina, thank goodness,"_ Heatran called out to him, pure relief flowing through her voice. _"Now that you are—"_

Giratina snorted. "Now that I am what?" he growled. He slowly swiveled his massive, spiked head, taking us in with his malevolent gaze. "The only thing that is happening now is _my_ takeover of the universe. The Inners were able to control me for a time, that is true. But they made the mistake of implanting their essence within me and changing my heart. Now that I am apart from the Torn World in my Origin Forme, I have been made just powerful enough to rip myself from those amateurs' control. Now _I_ am the most powerful creature in existence, and not even Arceus itself can be a match for me!"

Oh, crud. So much for Giratina being on our side. Well, I supposed it was an improvement from helping the Inners.

He turned and roared at the bewildered Inners, his voice at a pitch that probably would've made my head explode had I not covered my ears in time. The Inners shouted and tried to flee, but then they started to glow: Inner-Adrienne blue, Inner-Maddie pink, and Inner-Tiger yellow. At the same time, they sank through the air until they tumbled on the ground not far from us.

When they stopped glowing, they were no longer the Spirit Pokémon.

"WHAT?!" Inner-Adrienne waved her now-human arms and ran around, yelling indignantly. The other Inners followed suit. "You can't DO this, Giratina! We are the Inners! We were supposed to RULE!" He just laughed at them.

"Who's laughing now?" I couldn't help thinking.

Giratina lowered himself to the ground and dug his strange side-spikes into the soil. Immediately energy pulses of every color snaked out from the spikes, slowly spreading out across the land. Wherever the energy touched, the ground turned pitch black.

"The first order of business," boomed Giratina, "will be to destroy this world. It is worthless to me... especially since it is the birthplace of the Inners' creators!"

We—including the Inners this time—could only watch helplessly as the destruction spread inexorably toward us.

"_Oh, no. Oh, no! What should we do?"_ Luvdisc asked in a panicky voice.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do." Everyone turned to look at Inner-Adrienne. Her expression was unreadable as she went on dully, "I've seen what Giratina is capable of. We can't stop him. We might as well give up."

"_But there has to be some way,"_ said Heatran, sounding more distressed than ever at the idea of fighting her former best friend. _"Everyone has a weakness, even if it's just a single, small one. But what could it be?"_

A little voice was saying something at the back of my mind, repeating it insistently like I was being very stupid by ignoring it. Either I was officially going insane, or my memory was finally doing me some good. "Oh, what the hey," I thought, deciding to let the little voice come through.

"Only by truly being yourselves can you hope to stop Giratina."

_Truly being ourselves..._

I looked from each Inner to the human from whose mind she had been born, letting my eyes come to rest on my hands.

_Truly being ourselves..._

And suddenly, finally, it all made sense to me.

Our Inners weren't really separate beings. They were just our own dark sides. When you got right down to it, the Inners were as much a part of us as our good sides were, whether we liked it or not. But those dark sides had separated themselvesfrom us not long before our first trip to the mental world. So now...

So now, was it possible that we—Maddie, Adrienne, and I—weren't truly ourselves anymore?

The idea forming in my head was repulsive, not to mention the fact that it seemed pretty unlikely to work. But if it might do any good, if it might save any people from meeting the same terrible fate as my classmates, I had to at least suggest it.

"Adrienne, Maddie," I began carefully, "I think we have to rejoin the Inners to our souls."

Everyone stared at me, open-mouthed, as Giratina's evil rainbow of doom continued to spread.

Adrienne was the first to find her voice. "Tiger, I really hate to burst your bubble, but that's pretty much the worst idea in the history of... well... ever!"

"I'll say," Maddie growled, glaring over at Inner-Maddie. "And just what do you think we'll accomplish by doing that? Hmmm? Besides the Inners taking over our minds forever, of course!"

Inner-Maddie gave a derisive snort. "Like there's anything more to be gained by doing that! No Mesprit powers! Nothing! _Nada! Zip! Zilch!_"

Inner-Adrienne, however, was frowning thoughtfully. "Actually, sounds like a plan to me," she said. Several of us gave surprised gasps at that, but no one could've been more shocked than me. "If we meld back together with you and share your life force once more, we Inners could possibly use what miniscule fragments remain of our Cresselia energy to do... something. I don't know. That's all I've got so far."

"_After all you've done, you would still help us?"_ Heatran asked, narrowing her eyes at the Inner.

"Oh, that's not suspicious at all," Maddie muttered darkly.

Inner-Adrienne just shrugged. "It beats losing to Giratina. Much as I hate to admit it, I am a part of _her_"—she nodded curtly in Adrienne's general direction—"and she's never been one to drag others down with her. Besides, what have I got left to lose? No real power, no authority... no pride."

So we agreed to fuse back together. First, though, we ran a good distance away from the ever-farther-reaching energy beams of Giratina; this wasn't exactly going to work well if we died before we managed to do anything useful.

"Okay, take my hands," said Inner-Tiger. I did, and when I looked over I saw that the other Inners had done the same. "Now imagine me not as Inner-Tiger, but just as Tiger. We are one and the same... unfortunately," I heard her add under her breath. Fine, be that way.

As soon as I imagined us as one, it happened. Inner-Tiger was gone, and I felt somehow... fuller, more complete. It was a really nice feeling, in a weird way.

I jumped when Inner-Tiger spoke in my head, then slowly realized it was just my own thoughts. "I didn't realize how much I missed feeling this way."

"What now?" said Dragonite, looking somewhat relieved that the Inners were finally gone.

"Well, we're not about to go and try beating up on Giratina, are we?" said Adrienne. "I doubt joining the Inners gave us superpowers. But they did say that a tiny bit of their Cresselia energy remains, right?"

"_What is the good of having Cresselia energy if you cannot even use it to battle?"_ wondered Luvdisc.

"If we can't use it to battle," I thought suddenly, "then maybe we can use it to call others to battle." And with all my might, I focused on one image harder than I had ever focused on anything before: the Origin Court.

"Um, Tiger? You okay over there?" Maddie asked.

"Fine," I grunted.

And in a brilliant ball of white light, they appeared from the sky: the Legendary Pokémon, Arceus and Dialga and Palkia, Mew and Shaymin in its Sky Forme and the Legendary Birds. And of course, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, and Cresselia herself. All the rest were present as well, including the unpleasant new Darkrai.

"_You_ called them?" Adrienne asked as the others looked at me incredulously. I shrugged, feeling just as amazed as they must feel.

"Giratina," Arceus said in a roar that shook the sky and the earth. "You know not what you are doing. The Inner Evils left their cruel essence within you, and now we must purge it from you."

"Stay away, Arceus," Giratina warned, glaring at the Legendaries. "You cannot stop me now. This world is mine to kill!"

"Never!" all the Legendaries roared at once with such force that Giratina shrank back, uprooting his side-spikes from the earth. The rainbow waves disappeared, leaving behind blackened grass and soil but, luckily, no further damage.

Heatran shouted, _"I should be over there helping them!"_ Quickly she floated toward them, leaving a trail of blue ghost-smoke in her wake. I watched, huge-eyed, as the Legendaries surrounded Giratina until he was no longer visible. There was a screech of outrage, then silence for several seconds as the Legendaries did their work. When the crowd parted, Giratina had returned to Another Forme, and his head hung in shame.

"Heatran—" Giratina began.

"_Hush. I know,"_ she replied. And there was nothing more to say as she rushed forward and reared up to hug him. It was somehow comical and sweet at the same time.

I looked around for the others and saw Maddie. To my surprise, she was embracing a ghostly-blue Darkrai, both laughing despite the tears streaming down their faces. Apparently Giratina hadn't _quite_ finished his funeral rites before the Inners invaded Turnback Cave.

"So?" said Cresselia to Arceus, who was sweeping his gaze majestically over everyone. "Are the three girls cleared of their ridiculous charges?"

"Hm? What? Oh, that. Yes. Of course they are, Cresselia!" Arceus said, looking embarrassed. The Legendaries sent up a cheer, and I choked down a gasp of laughter at Arceus's awkward reply. "And it is usually against the rules, but I will restore the fallen building and the humans within to life." Arceus looked at my group, and for once he actually smiled. "You have done well, so now I will do well for you."

"And what about Heatran and Luvdisc?" asked Giratina, not looking up. "Is there anything you can do for them?"

At this, Arceus closed his eyes and sighed. "There is nothing to be done for a deceased Pokémon, I fear, especially a Legendary like Heatran. You know that as well as I do."

Giratina nodded, nuzzling Heatran. "I know," he replied, his voice raw with grief. "I will bring them safely to the next life." He turned to my group and smiled sadly. "Thank you for making this last journey with Heatran. I will always be in your debt."

"_Yes, thank you,"_ Heatran added. _"I would say that I am in your debt as well, but in my current condition it would be somewhat difficult to repay it. I think you'll understand."_

"_It is the same with me, I fear,"_ said Luvdisc.

We laughed and cried and hugged them as we said our goodbyes.

* * *

"Oh, MAN! I TOTALLY forgot about the Ringworm's assignment. Oh, man please tell me that dang paper is still here." I sat on Adrienne's bed, rummaging through stacks and stacks of paper. It had been a day since everything had gone back to normal; luckily, the Ringworm had postponed the due date because of a strange event that no one could seem to remember but had caused the calendar to skip a day.

"It's right here, genius," said Maddie, shoving it in my face. "Adrienne, here's yours." She shoved it in Adrienne's face.

"Gee, thanks," we said. Yep, typical morning for us.

We went to school as usual and turned in our papers; it was pretty nice to have everything just be normal for a change. Nice, but boring.

I looked forward to returning to the mental world tonight—for the last time.


	7. Epilogue

"Now the Inners will be fused to your souls for good," said Cresselia. Uxie floated next to me, Mesprit next to Maddie, and Azelf next to Adrienne. Dragonite watched from a few feet away.

The three of us had made a final trip to the mental world for this. We would no longer be able to come here or transform; it was best to ensure that nothing like the Inner Evils could ever happen again. We would miss this world terribly, but we knew it was for the best.

"The first step, now," intoned Cresselia. "Draw out the Inner Evils from each girl."

Our Spirits took our hands and pulled the Inner Evil from each of us.

Inner-Tiger stepped away from me and folded her arms. "Well, let's get this over with," she said.

"Now remove the Inner Light," Cresselia instructed.

Uxie pulled another Inner from me, and I jumped in surprise. "How many Inners do we _have_?" Maddie asked. She'd mellowed out ever since her last meeting with Darkrai.

"Just two," Cresselia replied. "One is mainly evil, and the other is mainly good. But both are necessary for balance within the soul."

"Like yin and yang," Adrienne murmured.

The good Inner-Tiger—or, I suppose, Yang Tiger—smiled politely at the bad one, Yin Tiger. Yin Tiger rolled her eyes. "I said let's get this over with, okay?"

Yin Adrienne grunted in agreement. "No kidding. I may have no pride, but this is ridiculous."

Yang Maddie giggled at them. "You guys! Stop being whiners and just do it."

With a burst of starlight, Yin and Yang reunited. Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf guided the glowing forms back inside us, and the glow faded.

"It is done!" said Cresselia with a smile. "And now you must return to your own world, but first you may say your final goodbyes."

Dragonite squeezed Adrienne in a bear hug, blubbering like there was no tomorrow. "I'm so sad! I'm never going to _see_ you aga-ha-hain!"

Adrienne pushed him away, trying not to let him see her crying. "Don't be dumb, Dragonite. I see you all the time. I just have to turn on my Diamond version and you're there!"

Dragonite sniffled. "That's true."

"Goodbye," Uxie said to me. "My powers were useful to you, I hope."

"More than you know," I assured it. "Believe me."

"Goodbye," said Mesprit, waving. "And don't feel sad! Your world is finally at peace."

"And you have the willpower to defend it if anything happens," added Azelf, its eyes flashing.

"And the hearts of true heroes," Cresselia said. "But now you must go."

I took in all these creatures who I had come to love, trying to store the image away in my memory as the world faded to black.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, the bedside alarm clock said 7:47.

"Oh, freaking crud! We're late for school!" I shouted, jumping out of bed.

Adrienne groaned from under the sheets. "We have this Friday off, numb nuts. Go back to sleep."

"Moron," Maddie muttered.

"Seriously?" Sweet! I'd totally forgotten about the three-day weekend. That, plus the fact that the world was saved and I was finally truly myself again, made me feel more contented than I'd ever felt. The early morning light streamed softly through the window as I drifted, smiling, back into sleep.

Life was definitely good.


End file.
